What are you looking for when hiring an interim manager – to drive a change, a turnaround, or a complex project within your organization? Most of our clients are looking for a copy-paste solution, but it could be of great value to look outside of your industry.
Seniority and skills are essential for good management, but not everyone knows that engaging an Interim Manager from another industry could bring many advantages. Experience of a similar challenge is non-negotiable and Interim Managers are generally overqualified within their field of expertise. But is it really important to have experience from the same industry? We think that sometimes it is not necessary at all, on the contrary, engaging someone from outside of your area could bring many benefits.
Of course, sometimes a well-known and verified solution is the best, but it often pays off to bring in a leader with a broader experience. Senior leaders within, for example, program- or project management, transformation, or operational improvement, can perform very well across industries. These leaders are driven by the variety of assignments and the possibility to apply their knowledge in different setups. With an outside-and-in view of your business, experiences from diverse industries and the resulting cross-fertilization can be very beneficial and bring completely new insights and ideas. An interim manager also does not have to bother with internal politics, which enables them to focus on the change and transformations.
If you are considering engaging an interim manager, you should try to understand the different experiences and learning of the potential candidate and how these skills will benefit your organization. A transfer of skills could be the key to a highly successful transformation.
Updated 2021-06-09